http://repub.eur.nl/res/concept/jel-L10/ Recent publications classified by JEL Code L10 en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39515/ 2013-04-09T00:00:00Z We analyze the initial intellectual property (IP) right of 4,703 start-up entrants in the US, distinguishing between trademark and patent applications. The results show that start-ups are more likely to file for a trademark instead of a patent when entering into more competitive market structures. Further, we find that start-ups with a focus on distribution that serves end-consumers are more likely to file for a trademark and that start-ups that operate upstream and sell to other businesses are more likely to file for a patent. Lastly, the external influences on a start-up‟s management, such as the involvement of a venture capitalist (VC), affect IP applications. The increased incentive of VC-backed start-ups to become operational on the market makes them more likely to file initial IP in the form of a trademark rather than a patent. Among other factors, we control for R&D and advertising intensity in the industry and distinguish between more technical and more service-driven industries. De Vries, G.A. Pennings, H.P.G. Block, J.H. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/32879/ 2012-07-01T00:00:00Z This study examines the changing competitiveness of financial centres in mainland China and Hong Kong based on the geography of equity listing of mainland Chinese firms. Pre-listing firm characteristics are used to explore firms' motives for listing on a particular exchange and whether these motives have changed over time. The results show that Hong Kong's prominence as an international financial centre is attracting the largest and, recently, also the best performing mainland Chinese state-owned enterprises to go public. Less differentiation exists between the competitiveness of Shanghai and Shenzhen, although the renewed strategy of the Shenzhen stock exchange to attract smaller firms appears to be successful. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] Karreman, B. Knaap, G.A. van der http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20447/ 2010-08-10T00:00:00Z This study examines the changing competitiveness of financial centres in mainland China and Hong Kong based on the geography of equity listing of mainland Chinese firms. Pre-listing firm characteristics are used to explore firms’ motives for listing on a particular exchange and whether these motives have changed over time. The results show that Hong Kong’s prominence as an international financial centre is attracting the largest and, recently, also the best performing mainland Chinese state-owned enterprises to go public. Less differentiation exists between the competitiveness of Shanghai and Shenzhen, although the renewed strategy of the Shenzhen stock exchange to attract smaller firms appears to be successful. Karreman, B. Knaap, G.A. van der http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13557/ 2008-09-01T00:00:00Z We offer an alternative explanation for follow-the-leader behavior in foreign investment decisions based on Bayesian learning by rival firms. We test the implications of the model through a panel count data sample of MNEs that have invested in Central and Eastern Europe over the period 1990–1997. Interacting the measure of rivals' investment in country-industry pairs with uncertainty, we are able to identify the channel of Bayesian learning about revenue postulated by the model as the only one consistently generating the detected follow-the-leader behavior of foreign investments. The empirical findings are robust with respect to different model specifications. Altomonte, C. Pennings, H.P.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12059/ 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z We investigate productivity convergence of domestic firms in a transition economy, Ro- mania. In estimating total factor productivity we allow for varying returns to scale and control for both the endogeneity of the productivity shock and the omitted price variable bias linked to heterogeneous firms' market power. Consistently with our priors, we find that without controlling for the omitted price variable bias absolute convergence estimates are biased upwards. In terms of conditional convergence, we find that the speed of convergence across firms depends mainly on technology transfers from the frontier and, less markedly, by a number of regional and industrial characteristics such as the distance to the capital region, the minimum efficient scale and the absorptive capacity. Altomonte, C. Pennings, H.P.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9147/ 2007-03-08T00:00:00Z This paper explains why consolidation acquisitions occur in waves and it predicts the differing role each firm is likely to play in the consolidation game. We propose that whether a firm assumes the role of rival consolidator, target, or passive observer depends on the position of the firm relative to the entity that merges first. Our model predicts that an initial acquisition triggers a wave of follow-on acquisitions, where the process of asset accumulation by the consolidator is accelerated since the value of follow-on acquisitions is enhanced by the more concentrated industry structure. An initial consolidation can trigger a consolidating acquisition by a rival in a remote market segment, while some firms prefer to be a target and others remain passive observers that await the outcome of the consolidation process rather than merge amongst themselves. Fragmentation, demand uncertainty, and investment costs determine the timing of acquisitions. Berg, W.A. van den Smit, J.T.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7231/ 2005-10-01T00:00:00Z We develop a simple test to assess whether horizontal spillover effects from multinational to domestic firms are endogenous to the market structure generated by the entry of the same multinationals. In particular, we analyze the performance of a panel of 10,650 domestic and multinational firms operating in Romania in the period 1995-2001. Controlling for the simultaneity bias in productivity estimates through semi-parametric techniques, we find that changes in domestic firms’ TFP are positively related to the first foreign investment in a specific industry and region, but get significantly weaker and become negative as the number of multinationals that enter in the considered industry/region increases. We can thus recover evidence of changing marginal effects in domestic firms’ TFP, the sign of which depends on a specific threshold in the presence of foreign firms. Altomonte, C. Pennings, H.P.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1863/ 2005-01-25T00:00:00Z Royal Ahold (Koninklijke Ahold NV) was one of the major success stories in the 1990s and is one of the major failures in corporate governance, suffering a complete meltdown in 2003. This clinical study analyzes Ahold’s growth strategy through acquisitions and isolates the cause of the failed strategy, i.e. the absence of internal as well as external oversight of management’s strategy. This study details the consequences of the strategy: bad acquisitions, an accounting scandal and the loss of investor confidence. It illustrates how initially a family and later professional management exploited the intent of the law and existing regulatory structures to maintain absolute control of the company. It analyzes in detail the applicable governance mechanisms of Ahold that were designed to hold the self-interest of the parties in check. It asks the reader to consider whether these governance mechanisms, properly implemented, might have helped prevent Ahold or a situation similar to Ahold. Jong, A. de DeJong, D.V. Mertens, G.M.H. Roosenboom, P.G.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6810/ 2002-06-04T00:00:00Z This paper examines the relationship between firm births and job creation in Great Britain. We use a new data set for 60 British regions, covering the whole of Great Britain, between 1980 and 1998. The central theme of the paper is that, with the exception of a recent paper by Audretsch and Fritsch for Germany, the relationship between new-firm startups and employment growth has previously been examined either with no time-lag or with only a short period lag. The current paper examines short-run as well as long-run relationships and provides results for Great Britain similar to those for Germany. We find that the short-run employment impact of new-firm startups in British regions has been bigger in the 1990s compared to the 1980s. Concerning long-run effects, we find that the employment impact of new-firm startups is strongest after about five years, but the effect disappears after a decade. Stel, A.J. van Storey, D.